Police fired rubber bullets and charged people with batons as they tried to entering polling places in Barcelona. Police smashed the windows of at least one polling place and seized ballot boxes and voting papers.

The wealthy northeast region of Catalonia includes the city of Barcelona and has its own language, culture and regional government. Catalan nationalists want the region to become its own republic and break away from Spanish control.

The government declared the referendum illegal and ordered police to close polling stations and seize ballot boxes.